Monday, December 31, 2012

BBD’s ChristmasGarden was my new start in January this
year so it seems kind of appropriate that having talked about that in my first post
of 2012 I’m going to talk about it in my last post of 2012. Having finished it in May it then sat for
weeks months (!!) before I finally left it in with the framer in October. With everything else going on I sort of forgot
about it (my framer can sometimes take a while) but come December I did begin
to think it was about time it was home and hanging in my house. Just over a week before Christmas I got the
word that it was ready to be picked up and here it is…..

I love that I had
this in time for Christmas and I’m thrilled with the job she did.

At the same time as
leaving ChristmasGarden in I also left PSS
Sergei. That came home with me too…….

and is another one
that I’m thrilled with.

While I’m not really
into the whole making resolutions thing I do like to start a new project in
January. As you will know, I love having
something to work on each month. Well,
I’m not sure whether I’ve bitten off more than I can chew but, this year this
is the one that’s going to be my monthly stitching project…..

A Sampler Story by Brenda Keyes. At 24 squares I’m
thinking I can manage two squares a month and, with a bit of luck, I will have
this one completed in December 2013. I
did think of just one square a month but the thought of it taking me two years
seemed a lifetime! I’ll see how I get
on, if it starts to feel like that’s all I’m working on and I’ve no time for
anything else I might need to rethink.

We did have a
different Christmas this year but the good news is that a couple of days ago my
mum changed hospitals and is now in one where she’ll spend the next few weeks
having physiotherapy and help to get back on her feet. My dad is having horrible nerve pain from the
shingles but the rash itself has stopped spreading and isn’t looking so nasty. Unfortunately he’s still not allowed to visit
my mum.

Thank you for all
the lovely comments you left last time about my PS stitchings. In 2013 I’m hoping to stitch some of the
BOAF santas and likely there will be some PS ones in the mix as well.

Whatever your plans
to see in 2013….enjoy. DH and I will see in the New Year very
quietly, hopefully we’ll manage to stay up to midnight! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2013
with lots of stitching going on!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Hard to believe that
Christmas Day is just around the corner.
It is quiet here this morning so I thought I’d grab the chance to do a
quick post to wish everyone a lovely Christmas and share some stitching before
Christmas rather than after it.

My plans for stitching
more PS Santas took a back seat from August onwards but I did finish five in
total and in time to have them out on display.

This is the fifth
one that I put the final stitches into a week or two back.

In a comment on my
last post Siobhan mentioned my PS Twelve Days of Christmas which I stitched through
2011. Last Christmas I had them displayed on a wreath (you can see it here if
you want to take a look) but with everything else going on this year that
didn’t happen and I just have them displayed in a bowl.

My mum had her hip
replacement surgery on Thursday. She has
come through the surgery and the doctors are pleased with her progress but she
will be in hospital over Christmas.
Meanwhile my poor dad has developed shingles and is miserable with it.
That has meant that he hasn’t seen my mum in a week now and I know that the two
of them are missing each other especially with my mum going through surgery.

Our house is full
again as our two sons and daughter arrived home at different times
yesterday. When DH and I got back last night
it was lovely to walk into the house and have everyone here. Christmas is going to be a little different
for us this year but whether we sit down and eat turkey or not (we won’t be!)
is of little consequence. Far more
important is spending time with loved ones.

Wishing each and
every one of you a lovely Christmas in whatever way you spend it.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Thanks everyone for
your kind comments and emails after my last post. I’m still doing a lot of miles in the car
each week. My mother was supposed to
have her hip surgery on Nov 28th but a fire at the hospital the
weekend before changed that. There was
water damage to some of the wards and theatres so a lot of the elective surgery
was cancelled. We are waiting to hear a
new date, whether it will be before Christmas or not we don’t know, and the
longer we don’t hear anything I’ve the feeling it will be January before it
happens.

As to
stitching? Well, I’ve been doing bits
and pieces here and there. This one I
actually had stitched months ago but hadn’t got round to finishing it.

SB's Good Cheer Pin Cushion

It took me several
attempts to do this ribbon and bead edging but, I got there in the end! At one point I was thinking of attaching a
chenille trim round the edge instead but a fruitless search through my
stitching stash to find said chenille trim that I knew I had somewhere put paid
to that idea. So, I just had to knuckle
down and get on with it! I will say I
felt like I was getting the hang of it by the end but I don’t know that I’d
look forward to doing it again!

Next up is my finish
of the freebie that was offered by Nikyscreations which you can find it here.

And finally, another
PS Santa from the booklet Old World Santas II.
It’s been a while since I’ve managed to stitch one of these but I’m
hoping to get one more done before Christmas.

Stitched on 32ct Natural Light linen using suggested DMC

And that’s about it for this time. I hope all is well with you and yours. Seems like Christmas is going to be here
before we know it which, of course, leads me to say that I don’t know where
this year has gone! I’m starting to get
itchy fingers to be working on a larger project. With everything that has been going on these
last months my stitching mojo hasn’t been around all that much but I think
there’s going to be some stash diving coming up soon to see what calls my name.